Of the visits we've taken thus far the most intriguing to me was the Natural History Museum. I was surprised such an enormous but yet elegant building was here in Kensington and I hadn't seen it before. Once inside, I was immediately drawn to the dinosaur exhibit due to its pure size and aesthetic. It was interesting to read about the different displays, it never occurred to me people during the Victorian times were so interested in studying dinosaur fossils, but it was the best way for them to gauge changes throughout time. I started thinking about what our purpose and use of dinosaurs is. W.J.T. Mitchell says it best in her short excerpt about dinosaurs, "What we do not yet understand is the cultural function of the dinosaur, a children's toy, a corporate logo, a voracious monster, a civic monument...". She continues to go into further discussion how in todays world we see amazing image, data, fossil, and other dinosaur related collections all over the world, but rarely if ever do we see an attempt to understand the underlying meaning of the collections and the basis for their fascination. Here is where I believe the Natural History Museum did a phenomenal job through defining the Victorians actual use and reasoning behind their fascination of dinosaur fossils. Victorians had a practical use for dinosaur fossils during their period of life, but i personally cant think of any in particular for todays day and age. Which makes me question why dinosaurs are still of such fascination, and Stephen Jay Gold says it best in my opinion, "I know no better response; big, fierce, extinct - in other words, alluringly scary, but sufficiently safe". This couldn't be more true, and perhaps explains why dinosaurs are still found on display in museums across the world. I am glad we took the visit to the Natural Art Museum along with reading WJT Mitchells excerpt because it sparked a whole new though process I would have never experienced otherwise.